a slippery start to this saturday morning. we are waking up to rain, but we've got what you need to know before you step outside. and in just hours, lawmakers in richmond decide on legislation that will affect millions of drivers. good morning. welcome to news 4 today. i'm angie goff. >> and i'm richard jordan. it is 6:00 on this saturday morning, february 23rd, 2013. right now the midwest digging out of another massive snowstorm. snow and ice blanketed most of the midwest this morning. kansas appears to have gotten the worst of it with some places getting a foot and a half of snow. thousands of travelers are

looking for flights after numerous delays and cancellations in st. louis, kansas, and chicago. >> the windy city only got around 4 inches of smnow, but i was enough to tie the highest one-day total of snowfall so far this season. it caused problems for people all over the city as plows roamed the streets trying to clean up. however, not everyone was upset about it. of course, the kids took advantage of a day off from school. always nice to squeeze a little sledding in. you know chuck bell is watching this and salivating at the mouth. >> he's jealous. >> if i can just wipe the droll off. yikes. yeah, awfully wet start around here this morning. temperatures are just above the freezing mark right around town, but there are some temperatures just below freezing. northern maryland towards interstate 81. 32 in winchester. temperatures just to the north and west at or slightly below

the prefreezing mark. that's where the winter weather advisory continues. here's the way it looks on radar. most of the rain is from i-95 to points south and east. where the colder air is, just a touch of slipperiness this morning. there's a whole lot more cloud cover and rain drops in our immediate future. there's your saturday starter. a cold rain, temperatures in the 30s this morning. we'll talk about the rest of the weekend coming up. this morning, it is down to the wire for a sweeping transportation bill in virginia. the house passed a compromise to governor bob mcdonald's plan yesterday. today it's the senate's turn to take a vote before the session ends this afternoon. julie carey has more on the debate from richmond. >> our situation right now is so bad, a lot of people don't realize there, there is not one penny to put a stoplight in in the entire state of virginia. >> reporter: that was part of fairfax county delegate's final pitch to lawmakers. he helped craft the final

transportation funding bill that passed the virginia house by a fairly wide margin. the bill would raise about $880 million a year for road, transit, and rail. it would reduce the state gas tax but hike the state sales tax to 5.3%. car titling fees would go up. owners of hybrids and other alternative fuel vehicles would pay a $100 annual fee. for northern virginia, it's another $345 million a year. >> but it is the largest transportation plan ever in the history of virginia. it's going to build roads. it's going to get me to my kids' soccer game in time. >> reporter: but some argued gop colleagues were abandoning promises to hold the line on higher taxes. >> what we're telling the public

is no belt tightening in richmond, we're going to reach into your pocket further and deeper because we don't want to sacrifice, but we'll make you sacrifice more. new this morning, a search in district for two men who shot a man in the head. it happened about 1:30 this morning on 9th street in northwest. police say the victim is not responsive, but they have not said what condition he's in. detectives recovered a gun but are still searching for two armed black men who are wearing masks. if you have any information, please contact d.c. police. also new this morning, a man who escaped a deadly house fire last weekend is now behind bars charged with murder. police arrested 46-year-old jerome lewis last night and charged him in the death of 4-year-old samurai jenkins. the child died after being pulled from the fire on indiana avenue last sunday. lewis was also arrested the night of the fire for assault and making threats. police say he owns the home and

lived many the basement. firefighters say the basement is where that fire started. people in prince george's county come together and call for peace in the wake of yet another murdered student. news 4 was in forestville for the student's vigil and says the community is in shock over the latest tragedy. >> words cannot explain how i feel right now because i just lost my baby. >> reporter: teresa williams is lost, searching for at her son's candle light vigil. >> i'm happy and sad, with all the support i have down here. >> reporter: teens pouring down teens' faces as they remember the ninth grader. he was shot and killed at this apartment complex parking lot tuesday evening. >> he was like a brother to me. he didn't deserve this at all. this is crazy. >> reporter: he was one of six prince george's county public

school students killed this year. kidd was soon to be a father. >> i feel sorry for his baby mama. >> if the killer is out there, please come forth so that we can have peace in our hearts. >> reporter: a desperate plea from a hoeartbroken mother who prays for closure. >> prince george's county police are offering up to $25,000 to anyone who comes forward with information that leads to an arrest in this case. the time right now is six minutes after 6:00. still this morning, hackers set their sights on one of the biggest tech companies in the world, and it comes the same day as big problems for its users. plus, did local first responders go too far when they appeared at an event with the president? and remember, we're not just on the air. we're also online. join us online this morning on facebook and twitter.

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crews are working hard this weekend to set up a statue of rosa parks at the capitol. she helped sparked the civil rights movement in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus. it will be officially unveiled on wednesday. president obama is scheduled to attend. d.c. firefighters will not be disciplined for appearing with president obama during a speech. d.c. firefighters along with other first responders stood behind the president earlier this week as he warned of the potential cut from the looming sequestration. d.c. fire ems chief said that the firefighters never asked for permission to represent the district at a public event and the department will review protocols. could part of the national zoo be closing in the coming week all because lawmakers can't

agree? plus, a tricky rescue after a dog gets stuck on ice. what rescuers had to do to save the pup. that's coming up. first, here's chuck. yes, indeed, we're off to a cold and wet start on your saturday morning. so how long will all this ugliness last into your weekend? we'll talk about that and the return of your sunshine. don't go away.

right now, the pentagon has grounded its entire pleat of brand new f-35 fighter jets because of a cracked engine blade. the crack eed blade was found during a routine inspection. pentagon officials ordered all 64 jets from the air force, navy, and marine corps grounded until they figure out the cause of the problem. a spokesman for the company that makes the jets says none of the other f-35s have cracks. if you have a plane to catch in the next few week, the sequestration showdown could have an impact on you.

we're looking live at capitol hill where lawmakers will return monday. if nothing gets done, transportation officials say furloughs would be likely for tsa agents and air traffic controllers. the national zoo might have to make tough decisions as well if a budget deal isn't reached. it's facing major cuts as part of the sequester, but how much is still up in the air. megan mcgrath has more. >> reporter: it's not typically what comes to mind when you think about federal agencies, but as part of the smithsonian institution, the national zoo depends on federal money to operate. if congress doesn't come up with a budget deal, the zoo could lose tens of millions of dollars, and that could mean some very painful decisions ahead. two cheetahs playfully roll around, blissfully unaware of the sequestration debate and the potential $40 million in cuts to their home, the national zoo.

many visitors were also unaware and are now hoping for the best. >> the question is what's important and what's not. in my opinion, this is pretty important. this is what helps our next generation. >> reporter: zoo officials would not go on camera but admit they're concerned. they say it is possible that a major exhibit could be closed to save money. although, a spokesperson would not speculate on which one. >> i bring a group out here from wisconsin every year, about 100 students. yeah, they look forward to it, seeing the pandas. if one of those were shut down, it would probably be a stop we'd take off. >> reporter: zoo officials emphasize that animal care would not be compromised under any circumstances. but research, one of the bigion likely be pushed to the back burner. >> i think this is one of the best places for education. kids get excited to come here. they want to it. they learn, they engage. if we're going to protect our world, we have to keep places

like this around. >> reporter: cost cutting could also affect staffing. critical jobs would be protected, but other positionings a-- positioning could be impacted. zoo officials emphasize that they will do everything possible to minimize any cuts that might come down to try and avoid closing exhibits. and like many, they have their fingers crossed, hoping congress will come up with some sort of deal and do it soon. take a look at this video from chicago now. a dog somehow found himself stuck on frozen lake michigan. jumping from a chunk of ice to another chunk of ice. a man who lives nearby put on his wet suit and eventually guided that dog to dry land. the dog eventually got to shore and was captured. he spent last night warming up at a local animal control center. the dog's owner says he ran away nine days ago. boy, he ran far.

>> he did. >> he got into trouble. >> it will be great to be reunited, but that's not probably how you want to find your dog. >> jumping into lake michigan this time of year, that will put a spring in your step. luckily, a story with a happy ending. that's all we need. and for us, what an ugly start to your weekend, everybody. i wish i had a little better news for your saturday, but the clouds are here. they're going a whole lot of nowhere for today. rain drops a big part of the front half of your weekend. house we go. this morning, full cloud cover out there early on your saturday. plenty of rain to go along with it. temperatures in and around town are just above the freezing mark, so we're not worried about anything in the way of ice in the immediate metropolitan area, but you folks into northern maryland, be on the lookout. your temperatures are right around the prefreezing mark thi morning. metro temperatures are generally right at or above the freezing mark.

warmer than freezing from washington southbound into prince george's county. once you get into montgomery county, temperatures right at the freezing mark this morning. further north and west, there are little pockets of air out here that are 32 degrees or colder. so be on the extra careful side for today. your forecast for your saturday, cloudy today. showers off and on. highs only up near about 40, 42 degrees at the most. in rockville, your hometown forecast, 38 with the rain continuing through about 10:00 this morning. mainly the rain should start to taper off mid to late afternoon. might be a little bit earlier than that. count on the clouds to linger around through all of your saturday afternoon and start to break up not until long after the sun goes down. here's the way it looks on radar. again, the highlighted counties in purple, that's where the winter weather advisory goes until 10:00 this morning. that's where those little pockets of cold air are. down to south, that's where the milder temperatures are, so we don't need to worry much about

the wintry threat. we're the steadier rains are across southern maryland, temperatures well above the freezing mark. any flights in and out of atlanta or charlotte today could be delayed because of all the rain drops. so brace for a wet start on your weekend. area of low pressure zipping by the coastline today. eventually, as it goes northbound, it'll turn the rain off and finally late tonight a cold front coming through will finally spark an end to the rain showers and allow the sunshine back tomorrow. for your morning, a cold rain, temperatures inching their way into the middle and upper 30s. this afternoon, staying cold and wet. rain chance, 80% this afternoon. for this evening, rain coming to an end. rain chances down to only 30% by this evening. again, plenty of wetness lingering on through your evening plans. there's your seven-day forecast. 42 with the rain today. up near 50 degrees with the

return of sunshine for both sunday and monday. looks pretty nice as well before another rain chance coming many on tuesday. i think most of that tuesday morning is probably going to be rain. going to keep a close eye on that. it will be sort of like this morning. could be one or two patches here and there closer to the freezing mark. we'll watch that carefully. then through the rest of the week, finishing out the month of february. march arrives on friday. that will be almost the last we need to worry about winter weather. >> really? >> it's march. >> snow lovers give up? >> well, i mean, i'm not throwing in the towel just yet, but, you know, i'm ready to let go in a moment's notice. >> all right. thank you, chuck. 6:21 right now. forget the glitz and glamour. some celebrities are leaving the expensive bling behind for tomorrow night's oscars. plus, gas is getting expensive, so is what you've heard about making your gas last really true? we're going to debunk some gas mileage myths ahead.

but first, if you've called off sick from work lately, you're not alone. how american workers just broke a record. we're goin

one of former senator chuck hagel's biggest critics says he will now vote to confirm him as defense secretary. senator john mccain said he and his senate colleagues will support hagel as leader of the pentagon. republicans and others filibustered hagel's confirmation last week. mccain says he expects fahagel be confirmed next week. microsoft deals with a string of problems. the latest involves a worldwide outage for a service that stores

data. the service went down yesterday afternoon. the company says it's slowly restoring the program. to add on to the problems, it's the latest company to suffer a hacking attack. it's giving few details about what happened but said it affected a small number of employees' computers. no customer data was stolen during the attack. microsoft now joins facebook, twitter, and apple as online companies that have been hacked in the past month. if you've noticed that your office has been a little empty this winter, you're not alone. more americans called out of work sick in january than any other month in nearly five years. the bureau of labor statistics says nearly 3 million full-time employees missed work last month because of illness. more than 1 million were out an entire week. the last time numbers were that high was february of 2008. a local man busted again. coming up, wait until you hear how many times he's been arrested and how police tracked him down after his latest crime. plus, could a house fire

that claimed the lives of a father and two little girls actually save more local families in the future? and you might want to be a little careful when you step outside this morning. some slick conditions across the area. chuck bell has your forecast next.